Category Archives: trees

Tree Planting Planned

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From FaceBook post:

Street Tree Planting Neighborhood Impacts this week:
Wednesday, Nov. 4: Groundwork RVA will auger the holes at tree wells. Expect sidewalk impacts. Trees, smart boxes, and bagged mulch arrive. No parking on the southern side of 700 Ablemarle st near the alley side by the church to accommodate two Toolbank Smart boxes.
Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 5–7: Tree planting will impact sidewalks. Volunteers meet at Pleasants Park at 9 a.m. each day, and plant until 1 p.m or later if energy permits.
Water trucks or those carrying trees/mulch may block traffic temporarily. We are still looking for a hose and water to use on 100 Cherry to mitigate this. Hoses accessible from the front yards near 800 Spring, 200 S. Laurel and 700 Holly could also be helpful.

OHNA Tree Replacement Campaign

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(Probably won’t be palm trees along a warm beach, but we can dream in January- more trees will be great, regardless)

Paraphrasing from announcement:

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association is working with the Richmond Tree Stewards (https://www.richmondtreestewards.org) on an effort to plant new street trees in approximately 50 empty tree wells (depending on funding) in our neighborhood. We plan to apply for multiple grants to accomplish this. Planting would likely occur in Fall 2026. This project is subject to DPW’s Urban Forestry Division’s approval. This project will need a lot of volunteers, especially for the planting days. We will be collecting feedback on this project. The City’s Neighborhood Climate Resilience Grant application’s are due 1/23 before our next OHNA meeting.

Keep in mind- The tree sizing and species selection will be heavily informed by Richmond Tree Stewards based on the conditions at each site, including trees already on the block, whether there are overhead wires and the size of the tree well. The planting plan will also have to be approved by the City’s urban forestry officials. This document shows recommended trees by size in city Right of way.
https://www.rva.gov/sites/default/files/2024-10/Recommended%20Tree%20Species%20%28By%20Size%29.pdf

Beware of 3North

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One neighbor deemed this proposed, obstructive monument “2001: A Space Idiocy“, aka “Quintessential 3North”.

3North is the same design firm that had so many trees removed from Monroe Park and too many other Richmond locations.

He also said it was missing its ‘uplighting’ spotlights and a lighted ‘Dominion Energy’ sign, not to mention a Bose speaker system with a limiter. (Then again, the Urban Design Committee already told them they had too much crap.)

Another remarked on the “floating coffin” seating.

Call it ‘shopping center chic’ or ‘modern brutalist’, but if the City agrees to their plan, 3North and ‘redevelopers’ could net soft fees of 10%, or around $3 million plus in City taxpayers’ money.

Of course, citizens could speak before the Urban Design Committee and Planning Commission on this matter…

Now Is The Time…

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During its period of historic significance (circa 1906), there were 376 trees in Monroe Park. Monroe Park is Richmond’s oldest public municipal park, acquired in 1851.
In 2018, due to a botched and racially motivated “renovation”, over 40 healthy, mature trees were cut down, leaving less than 100 trees in the 7.5 acre park.
In Autumn of 2024, Richmond city council approved an ordinance removing the seats on the Parks and Rec Advisory Board of both EnRichmond Foundation and the Monroe Park Conservancy (who was responsible for the disastrous redux), deeming them nonfunctional entities.
Now is the time to plan for the reforestation of the park.
Sincerely,
Charles Woodson.
Richmond Va